Kiger's Notebook

Roch's World Cup - OMC Croquet Field Day

While the fans cheered and rallied around their favorite World Cup soccer teams Sunday, dedicated competitors met on another field of battle in the rain in Rochester.

Mallets in hand, 98 players took aim at wickets at Olmsted Medical Center Foundation's Croquet Field Day at the Rochester Country Club.

The event raised more than $43,000 to support women's health initiatives at Olmsted Medical Center.

This was the first time the foundation had a croquet tournament as a fundraiser, but it might not be the last.

"We will survey participants ... for input on the event, but if comments on the lawn were any indicator, we will definitely consider hosting another Croquet Field Day," said Stacey Vanden Heuvel, OMC's vice president of marketing and philanthropy.

After three 45-minute rounds of play, Clarence and Patricia Topp of Marshfield, Wis., won the championship round. In the final round, the Topps faced Adam and Mike Benike, also known as The Benike Benchwarmers, and Jack Gross and Julie Domaille, playing as team Lawn Party.

Domaille also won a prize for best hat. Kareem Elkwae won the best-dressed award.

The Mad Hatters team — Amanina Abdul Rashid and Angela Grabau — won best team theme. Ron and Karen Werner were named most likely to improve.

McNeilus, Oshkosh donate $50,000

Giving back to the community is more important than ever when times are hard.

That's the philosophy behind a series of three large donations totaling $50,000 this week by Dodge Center's McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing Inc. and its parent company, Oshkosh Corp.

While donations like this were not uncommon before the recession, national numbers show substantial drops in corporate giving in 2008, 2009 and so far this year.

"Times are tough. We are all going through the worst recession any of us have seen in our careers. But these charities need us  more than than they did when the economy was booming," is how McNeilus president Mike Wuest describes the philosophy of Oshkosh CEO Bob Bohn.

For local non-profits, that means larger-than-usual contributions being made to the Dodge County Food Shelf, Channel One Food Shelf and Mayo Clinic.

Bohn and Wuest presented a check for $10,000 to the Dodge County group Wednesday and they are giving $15,000 to Channel One and $25,000 to Mayo Clinic today.

Wuest says the addition of the food shelves to this year's donation is new. "

With the unemployment rate, we thought this would be the year that those groups would need as much help as we could give them," he says.

With the concrete market at the lowest levels ever seen, McNeilus, which makes concrete mixers as well as other products, has adjusted its own employee numbers as well as pay during the past two years.

"It has been a tough couple of years and our employees had to step up from a compensation standpoint and we've been able to restore that compensation," Wuest says. "We are the company we are because of our employees and the pride they have in what they do."

Overall, the truck maker's employee numbers have stabilized at 1,200.

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"This is isn't a company that thinks of bonuses or that extra penny a share. I think every dollar invested in our community pays back tenfold," said Wuest. "I know that sounds corny, but that's true."